Review: Porter Robinson’s Nurture Revels in a Constant State of Change

The album is at its best when it leans into the DJ/producer’s dexterous instrumental tinkering.

Porter Robinson, Nurture
Photo: Dan Regan

Change is the only constant in Porter Robinson’s music, a collision of future bass and indietronica that’s taken on a different shape with each new project. The DJ/producer’s sophomore effort, Nurture, centers his vocals for the first time and attempts to venture beyond the EDM conventions he’d previously adhered to, with hints of J-pop and classical music. No riff or beat ever lasts too long before it’s dismantled and put back together with a different cadence or rhythm, and just when a song’s hook verges on repetitiveness, as on the single “Mirror,” it morphs into a broken, jagged version of itself.

This propensity toward mutation also applies to Robinson’s navigating of unfamiliar emotional terrain. “Something must’ve changed in me/I used to feel so light,” he croons on “Look at the Sky.” Subsequent tracks expand on that sense of disillusionment, touching on his recent creative blocks, and Nurture sets his earnest inner dialogues to exuberant beats that seem to nudge him away from self-doubt. The compositions themselves are enlivened by Robinson’s ability to weave opposing sounds and derive energy from their combinations. Piano and violins contrast the big drums and spiraling synths of the motivational “Get Your Wish” and “Sweet Time,” adding texture and breaking up the tracks’ busy moving parts.

Robinson has said that he had a “no supersaws no 808 subs no classic breakbeats rule” while recording Nurture. Though he doesn’t strictly adhere to those stylistic parameters throughout, the instrumental tracks steer clear of the strictures of dance music, particularly during the album’s middle section. The hyperactive loops and double-time drum patterns on “do-re-mi-fa-so-la-ti-do” summon the mind-melting psychedelia of Dan Deacon, and Robinson tips his hat to LCD Soundsystem’s “All My Friends” with the gorgeous piano riff on the six-minute “Wind Tempos.” The latter is an ambient study in interrupted frequencies, with ragged vocal shards and synth interruptions peeking through the track’s seemingly placid surface.

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Notwithstanding some pulverizing 808s on “Dullscythe” that recall his earlier work, Robinson mostly keeps his promise to pursue new sounds on Nurture, with mixed results. The cacophonous feedback of the cymbal-heavy “Mother” is grating, especially for a seemingly tender ode to parent-child relationships, and the chaotic, ’80s-inspired percussion—evocative of clanging sheet metal—on “Unfold” somehow manages to feel diffuse. On the other hand, the kinetic drum patterns on “Mirror” and the ricocheting drum n’ bass of “Something Comforting” add a glitchy dynamism to potentially overwrought inspirational songs.

Nurture is at its best when it revels in Robinson’s dexterous instrumental tinkering. The album is occasionally too precious by half, as on the mawkish classical-guitar-based ballad “Blossom,” but bolstered by Robinson’s infectious sense of discovery and ear for experimentation, it boasts a prevailing spirit of optimism that’s hard to resist.

Score: 
 Label: Mom+Pop  Release Date: April 23, 2021  Buy: Amazon

Charles Lyons-Burt

Charles Lyons-Burt covers the government contracting industry by day and culture by night. His writing has also appeared in Spectrum Culture, In Review Online, and Battleship Pretension.

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